


took the midnight train (going anywhere)

by avxry



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Cute, M/M, The Maze Runner - Freeform, Train Rides, brenda is mentioned, minewt, strangers to friendship to relationship, they also really ship minewt, thomally, thomas and gally are adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:34:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3431426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avxry/pseuds/avxry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt meets Minho on a train, Thomas meets Gally on the train, and they all would have met even if they didn't, and doesn't that make fate seem more real than it was five minutes ago?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in the beginning...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I'm back! I haven't posted anything in a long time, but I've recently been out of internet, so I couldn't help but write about my favorite Maze Runner ships. Please enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all started on the train.

Newt shoved Thomas's snoring head off his shoulder, checking his sleeve for stray drool before shrugging his shoulders in a circle and standing to stretch his legs. Thomas continued to snore quietly, effectively granting the pair looks from nearby passengers, but none had the audacity to mention anything. Newt ran his hands through his blond hair, rubbing his eyes to wake up.   
    

A glance at his watch told him it was late into the night, nearly late enough to be considered morning, but Newt was a night owl anyway. He never slept much and usually spent the whole night reading and re-reading books or watching his favorite movies over and over again. He had never been much of a partier, had always been the friend to not have any other friends. He was a lonely person, if he were to be honest with himself, and while Thomas was the best friend he could ask for, Newt had always wanted someone who became more than a friend, and Thomas would never make that cut.   
    

Newt  looked down both ways of the train car, wrinkling his nose before deciding to walk to the left, into the lounge car to sit at the bar. He was only 19, not old enough to drink alcohol, but he often liked to entertain the idea that he was. He never felt very inclined to drink anyway.  
    

He sat down at the bar. The stereotypical bartender, wiping down the bar with a white cloth, asked him, "What'll it be?"  
    

"Just water, please," Newt said in his deep accent, nodding at the guy and turning around to assess the other people in the car. There was an elderly couple reading different books, a man feeding his baby while glancing around the car as if waiting for something, and a pair of teenagers both on their phones but whispering quietly to each other.   
    

The bartender placed a glass in front of Newt on a coaster, with a, "Here ya go."   
    

"Thanks," Newt nodded again, taking a sip and rubbing his eyes again as if he were tired. The action was mostly habit; he wasn't tired as any normal person would be. With a sigh, he set his glass down again and tried to entertain himself by making up stories about the people in the car.   
    

Suddenly the car door opened with a scraping sound, and Newt's eyes flickered up in hopes of something actually interesting.   
    

He was granted pardon from his boring night and was handed the opportunity to look at the attractive being that just entered the lounge. He was Asian, with styled black hair and a toned chest, a charming expression, and a walk that teetered on the edge between confidence and reserve.   
    

Newt raised his eyes, caught a little off guard. He hadn't seen him on the train before, he definitely would have remembered that face. But however attractive this guy was, he kept his calm and didn't stare (not at all, of course not, never) and turned back around to face the bartender.   
    

It got more difficult to ignore the guy when he sat down on the stool beside Newt, ordering a Coke and taking a deep breath.   
    

Newt chanced a glance over at him to guiltily admire his face again only to find the guy looking back at him slyly. Newt's cheeks blushed ever so slightly as he turned his head away.   
    

"Late night, huh?" the guy asked with a sympathetic purse of his lips, taking a sip of the Coke that the bartender had just set on its own coaster.   
    

"Uh, not really," Newt replied with a shrug. "I'm usually up this late."   
    

"Me too, I guess," the boy agreed. "I used to go to sleep earlier, but I met this guy a couple months ago and he's messed up my sleeping schedule."  
    

"Yeah, I've been trying to do that to my friend for years," Newt laughed little. "He still wakes up early. He's in the next car over asleep."   
    

"That car?" the guy asked, pointing the the one that Newt had come out of. Newt nodded. "My friend's in that one too," the boy added.   
    

"Did you guys just get on?" Newt questioned, drinking more of his water.   
    

"A little while ago," he said. "But I wasn't in there. I was roaming around."   
    

"Restless?"  
    

"No," he shook his head. "Gally -- the guy I was talking about -- wouldn't stop talking about this guy he thought was cute or something. Actually, now that I think about it, he was sitting near you."   
    

Newt scrunched up his face in confusion and said, "I didn't see any cute boys in there." He glanced over at his new acquaintance to see if he caught the implication, but the guy's face didn't show any sign of it. Newt deflated a little -- that was just about the extent of his flirting.   
    

"I don't know," the guy said with a shrug. "I thought I saw one." He took a sip of his Coke and Newt almost thought he saw the hint of a smirk on his lips, but he couldn't have been sure. He blushed though, just a little, and gulped his water again.   
   

"So," Newt said with his usual quiet tone, "where you headed?"   
    

"Don't know," the guy replied honestly. "Gally and me just decided to hop on a train and get out."   
    

"Get outta where?"  
    

The boy almost replied instantly, but he hesitated for some reason, opening then closing his mouth. After a moment of indecision, he finally answered, "Just out."   
    

Newt decided that answer was plenty. He continued conversationally, "Thomas and I are headed up to our friend Brenda's. It's her birthday in a couple days."  
    

The boy nodded, taking a sip of his Coke again. After a second, he questioned, " 'S'Thomas that friend you were talking about with the sleeping?" Newt nodded with pursed lips. The guy added then, "Boyfriend?"  
    

Newt nearly laughed out loud, shaking his head. "No, no," he giggled, "definitely not. He's just a friend." He laughed again for another moment. "I'd probably go mad if we were together."   
    

"Yeah," the boy nodded with a chuckle, "that's me and Gally too. He's a little crazy."   
    

"D'you have a boyfriend?" Newt asked casually, raising his eyebrows. "Or girlfriend."   
    

"Uh, no," he shook his head, "neither one. How about you, boyfriend or girlfriend?"  
    

"Um, boyfriend," he said, "but no, I don't have one."   
    

"Single life," the boy chuckled to himself slightly, drinking his Coke. "How fun."   
    

Newt laughed at the sarcasm in his tone and nodded right along. "Oh yeah, loads. Staying up all night alone and watching movies is exactly how I want to spend every Friday night."   
    

"Not a party person, I take it?"  
    

"Erm, no, not at all actually."  
    

"Don't knock it 'til you try it," the guy countered with a pointed finger in Newt's direction. "I'm not a big fan myself, but it can be fun sometimes."   
    

Newt's face contorted into an expression of discomfort at the thought of partying in some club with loud music and sweaty bodies and all the germs and the danger and it made his stomach coil, honestly. "It just seems like a really dangerous way to spend time," he shrugged. "You could get drugged or murdered or mugged or --"  
   

"Slow down there, buddy," the guy chuckled. "You've been watching too much Criminal Minds. I've never even been to a place where any of that's happened."  
    

"I just don't like the risk involved," Newt shrugged. "I'd much rather just read my books."  
    

"What kinds of books do you read?"  
    

Newt found himself smiling at his hands, because he had never actually met an attractive guy who seemed genuinely interested in what kinds of books he read, and he was currently letting his hopes get so far up that they might just fly away. With a bashful sigh, he replied, "Everything."   
    

He looked back up at the guy whose name he still didn't know; he was looking at Newt with a glint in his eye and a smile on the edges of his lips and Newt felt his belly doing cartwheels and his legs turning to spaghetti because damn if that wasn't the prettiest thing he had ever seen, and they hadn't even been formally introduced.   
    

"Oh yeah?" the guy asked in a smooth tone. "Have you read Harry Potter?"   
   

"Only each book about fives times," Newt laughed. "Have you?"  
    

"I've read a few of them," he admitted with a nod. "I think the first and second ones and the last one."   
    

"You just skipped the entire middle!" Newt exclaimed, almost looking scandalized. "How else would you know anything about anything?"  
    

"I've seen the movies," he said defensively.   
    

"They're not the same," Newt replied definitively. "The books are ten times better. You have to read them." 

    

"I just don't get much of a chance," the guy shrugged. "I'm majoring in psychology, and it takes up a lot of time."   
    

"Psychology?" Newt asked with an impressed grin, momentarily forgetting about the boy's lack of Harry Potter knowledge. He was suddenly getting very skeptical that this entire encounter was even real, because this guy was actually setting the bar for crushes. Newt felt himself forming one on him with every word.

    

"Yeah," the guy nodded. "It's weird, because I can't really talk about my own feelings, but I'm good at helping other people do it."  
    

"Is it complicated?"  
    

"Very," he nodded, drinking his Coke. "The mind is a terrifying place."  
    

"Is that why you watch Criminal Minds?" Newt asked with a joking grin.  
    

The guy laughed and nodded his head again. "It's good practice."  
    

"So do you guess the un-sub faster than the team?" Newt joked.  
    

"No," he chuckled, "I'm nowhere near that good yet. It's my first year." Newt nodded and drank more of his water, silently admiring his luck. He had never met a guy like this one before, and he was beginning to smile to himself absently because this might have been the best thing to happen to him in a while, even if it was just a fleeting incident.  
    

"You in college?" the guy asked after a minute void of conversation.   
    

Newt nodded. "Yes. I'm majoring in literature."  
    

"Ooh, an English kid," the guy joked. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that you would be very bothered if I suddenly dropped into them bad talkin' accents that them people in the southern parts talks."

    

Newt visibly cringed and shook his shoulders as if shaking off the bad grammar, laughing. "Oh my God," he groaned, "never do that again, ever."  
    

The guy was laughing with his hand propping up his chin, his eyes shining with humor as they watched Newt, who was suddenly a little embarrassed at the full attention.   
    

"Sorry, sorry," he kept laughing, "I couldn't help it." 

    

"Ugh," Newt shook his head again. "I hate it."

    

"So do I," the guy chuckled with a nod.  
    

The entered a companionable silence, assuming that they were, in fact, companions. Newt entertained himself with the idea that they would exchange numbers or something of the like. He clearly had a problem with romanticizing strangers, and he knew that it had caused him disappointment in the past, but he simply couldn't help it this time because the ammunition for this fantasy was coming from the actual boy himself. He just seemed too perfect; there had to be some sort of catch, because Newt had never met anyone like this before, and yes, he had mentioned that to himself already, but it was true. He couldn't wait to talk to Thomas about it. As a matter of fact, he wished Thomas were there: Thomas was always much better at making first impressions than Newt.   
    

The guy said after a minute, "Well, I should probably get back to Gally. He probably did something stupid like actually approach the guy he thought was cute."  
    

"Why is that stupid?"   
    

The guy rolled his lips and furrowed his eyebrows as if thinking of the proper way to say what he meant. With a click of his tongue, he explained, "Gally has a tendency to . . . come off very strong."   

"Like, flirting, or?" 

  

"Sometimes," the guy nodded. "He usually has a definite opinion of someone right when he meets them. He's a very passionate person. If he finds a cause he likes, he gets behind it with everything he has."

  

 "That can be a good quality," Newt offered with an open-minded tone.

  

 He sighed. "Yeah, sometimes it is. But he won't give up. I just hope that guy he was talking about isn't easily intimidated."  
    

"I wish him luck," Newt joked sympathetically. The both of them rose from their seats, tipping the bartender a fair amount. With a little stretch, Newt said, "I'd better get back as well. Thomas was asleep when I left. I've got to use the restroom, but I'll . . . meet you in there?" His question was asking more than what it was actually asking, he realized, but if Newt were anything, he was sly.   
    

But the guy just smiled at him with a nod. "Yeah, definitely."  
    

Newt went down the rest of the lounge car while the other guy when the other way. Newt found a bathroom in the next car over, using it quickly and washing his hands before exiting and making his way back through the lounge car and into the passenger one.   
    

He was surprised by what he found.   
    

Thomas was grinning at some other guy, looking far more awake than he was when Newt left. The two were laughing and chatting as if they had known each other for years. But beside them was Newt's mystery guy, smirking like the cat that got the cream.   
    

Newt looked at the group of three suspiciously before he realized that the guy Thomas was talking to was Gally, Mystery Guy's friend, and Thomas must have been the guy that Gally thought was cute, and Newt suddenly felt like laughing because that was such a coincidence that it almost made it seem like fate. Even if he hadn't sat down in the lounge car, he probably would have met Mystery Guy anyway, and if that wasn't destiny, he wasn't sure what was.   
    

Of course, he didn't actually believe in destiny, but this situation was very fate-like.  
    

Newt walked over to Thomas and Gally, neither of whom had seen him coming. Thomas and Gally were sat across from each other, with Mystery Guy sitting beside Gally, across from where Newt had been sitting before he left. Newt reclaimed his seat and smiled at Mystery Guy.  
    

"How coincidental, huh?" the guy asked with a smirk that said too much.  
    

Newt gave him a look. "Uh huh. You knew Gally was talking about Thomas, didn't you?"  
    

The guy shrugged, still grinning smugly. "I may have assumed."   
    

Newt might have been annoyed were the guy not so perfect, but he could only find himself enamoured as he smiled widely back at him.   
    

Thomas then leaned over to Newt and said, "Oh, yeah, Newt, this is Gally and his friend Minho."  
    

Newt's eyes probably shined a little too brightly as he looked at his mystery guy and said quietly, "Minho."

    

"Newt," Minho said, mirroring Newt's expression.   
    

"Nice to meet you."  
    

"I could say the same."  
    

They shared a look for a moment too long but that didn't really matter to either of them. Thomas and Gally, however, gave them a weird look, and Thomas said, "Alright then. Anyway. I was just talking to Gally and he said they didn't have any particular place they were going so I said they would come with us to visit Brenda."  
    

Newt shrugged in a friendly manner and looked to Minho again. "Fine with me. Brenda likes making friends."  
    

"Brenda would love Gally," Thomas said with a grin to the boy in question. "He's hilarious and knows a lot about all kinds of sciences and watches the best movies."  
    

Newt and Minho grinned at Thomas knowingly, but Newt just nodded and said jokingly, just to see the look on Thomas's face, "Well, that's good, because you didn't get her a birthday gift."   
    

Thomas grinned at Gally and laughed, "You came just in time!" Gally laughed back in a charming manner, and Newt could see exactly why Thomas seemed so taken with him: He had a nice smile and a smooth laugh, glimmering eyes, and he sat with confidence. He looked at Thomas with a constant little smirk that reached his eyes, and Newt grinned to himself because Thomas deserved someone who was like that.   
   

Newt found himself hoping that the newfound friendship between he and Minho and between Thomas and Gally was not just a fleeting incident as he had previously assumed. Minho and Gally seemed like people he would love to make permanent.


	2. and in the end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four months later, and nothing has changed, except everything has.

Four months later, the group of four boarded the train, feeling a definite sense of nostalgia and grinning broadly to each other.   
    

They took their seats, in the same area as they had when they had first been formally acquainted -- except this time Newt sat beside Minho and Thomas sat beside Gally, because four months is a long time to not do anything spectacular, and they had certainly done spectacular things.   
    

Thomas and Gally took a lot less time to get the ball rolling. After only one month they had declared their relationship, and honestly, Newt was surprised it had even taken that long. Sure, when they fought, it was daggers and lightening strikes, but when they didn't, it was nearly inspirational. Newt admired their relationship entirely.   
  

Newt hadn't taken very long to form a less-than-minor crush on Minho. The guy just seemed too perfect to be true. He made funny jokes and could carry on an intelligent conversation and understood Newt better than anyone else ever had. He cared about everything he did and read books and lead the kind of life that Newt had always imagined would be brilliant.   
    

But Newt's favorite part about Minho was that he wasn't perfect. He caused problems and didn't know how to fix them; he didn't know the exact right thing to say every time he was needed; he was sometimes irrational and unpredictable and infuriating. But he asked for help and he tried his best and he said he was sorry and he meant it, and Newt loved him so much.  
    

He had tried, honestly, to tell Minho how he felt, because he was almost sure that his feelings were reciprocated, but every time he tried, the words just wouldn't come out. He got tongue-tied and his brain got fuzzy and he forgot how to breathe or form words in general, because even though Minho was his best friend, he made Newt's chest flutter and his hands shaky.  
    

They started chatting casually as the train began moving. They were headed back up to see Brenda again. She had made them promise on their last visit that they would come to see her more often, and they had agreed enthusiastically, yet it had been four months and they still hadn't made any effort to return. It was Thomas's idea this time, and of course, where Thomas was involved, so was Gally, so they all agreed to the idea.  
    

"I can't believe it's only been like four months since we all met," Thomas said, smiling over at his boyfriend, who grabbed his hand comfortably, tracing little circles with his thumb.  
    

"Seems like it's been forever," Minho commented with a nod. "Isn't this the same train too?"  
    

"I think so," Newt nodded. "I wonder if the same bartender is here."  
    

"Bartender?" Thomas asked.  
    

"Yeah," Minho replied. "We met in the lounge car over there at the bar."  
    

"You never mentioned that," Gally said with raised eyebrows. "I always thought Thomas and I met each other before you two did."  
    

"No, Thomas was asleep so I went to the lounge car and Minho walked in," Newt explained. "We had, like, a thirty-minute conversation without even learning each other's names."   
    

"It was kind of weird, actually," Minho joked. "I was so awkward."  
    

"What?" Newt laughed, looking at him incredulously. "You were awkward? I had practically forgotten how to form coherant speech!"  
    

"As if!" Minho exclaimed. "One of the very first questions I asked you was 'do you have a boyfriend?'"   
    

"Yeah, but you fit it in casually," Newt pointed out. "Very smooth."  
    

"But," Minho said, "I do have to say that you were extremely unperceptive."  
    

"What d'you mean?" Newt questioned, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked over at Minho.  
    

The Asian laughed and shook his head. "I was flirting with you so hard! You had no idea!"   
    

"That was not flirting!" Newt denied with a loud guffaw. "I don't know what it was, but it was not flirting! I even tried to flirt with you!"   
    

"Oh, no way," Minho shook his head wth a serious face. "There is no way that you, Newt, nerdiest and winner of the Least Likely to Flirt award, flirted with me."  
    

"Yes I did!" Newt exclaimed. "You mentioned Gally talking about Thomas being cute" -- Thomas and Gally shared a look, almost blushing -- "and I said I didn't see any cute boys in there, meaning that I saw one beside me."  
    

"And then I said, 'I don't know, I thought I saw one,' " Minho countered. "I was talking about you."  
    

"How was I supposed to get that?" Newt laughed. "I just thought you were letting me know you liked guys."  
    

Minho laughed out loud and shook his head, giving Newt a sympathetic look. "I was totally flirting!"   
    

Newt laughed back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thomas and Gally whispering to each other while looking at he and Minho. He thought he saw one of them say something like, "They need to get on with it." Newt blushed pink and didn't say much for a while in fear of saying something to warrant the comment again.  
    

They spent hours just chatting, both Newt and Minho catching up on some homework that was due in a few days. Gally and Thomas kept plenty busy, continuing their whispering in Newt and Minho's direction. Newt got the distinct feeling that they were planning something, but he had no real evidence to prove it. He tried to focus on his essay.  
    

Later, deep into the night, Thomas had fallen asleep again, still sticking strongly to his sleeping habits despite those of his friends. The other three were still up, and Minho suggested going into the lounge car, but Gally denied the offer, seeing as Thomas was practically lying on top of him and he didn't want to disturb him.  
    

Newt, however, agreed with a shrug, and the two rose from their seats and walked to the lounge car, sitting down at the bar where they had when they first met.   
    

They both ordered a Coke from the bartender. "Hey," Newt said to Minho, "it is the same bartender."  
    

Minho looked up at the guy with a smile and said, "Oh, yeah it is. You probably don't remember us, but --"  
    

"You two met here," the bartender -- his name tag said Barney -- interrupted. "I remember ya. Real cute an' all. None of ya's could flirt for tha life o'ya."  
    

The pair blushed and laughed to themselves. Barney then added, "So: You two together yet, or what?"  
    

"It's not like that," Newt shook his head in an embarrassed fashion.  
    

Barney nodded upward once, giving the two a disbelieving look. "Yeah, a'right, whatever ya say."  
    

Newt and Minho shared a look, grinning bashfully and then avoiding eye contact until Barney went to the other side of the bar to address a woman who had just entered the car.   
    

"Why does everyone think we should be together?" Minho asked with a shake of his head and chuckle.  
    

"You did try to flirt with me when we met," Newt pointed out, drinking his Coke.  
    

"You say 'try' but the bartender knew what I was doing," Minho said with a raised eyebrow, mirroring Newt's action with his own Coke.   
    

"If you did anything more than try," Newt said, pointing a finger at Minho's chest, "I would have known what you were doing."  
    

"You're just extremely 'daft,' " Minho said with air quotes. "Yeah, that's right, I'm learning the language of your people."  
    

"My people?" Newt echoed. "You mean the county that your people left?"  
    

"Hey, man," Minho threw his hands up, "I'm Asian, remember?"  
    

Newt rolled his eyes. "You are as American as they come."  
    

"But Asian," he joked, and they both laughed, shaking shoulders.   
    

They sat in comfortable silence for a while after that. They were thinking of both the past and the possible future. It seemed as if four months had been forever, taking time to learn and un-learn and re-learn and finally understand each other unlike anyone else had before. Newt quietly chuckled to himself when he thought that if four months felt that long to not be with Minho, imagine the rest of his life.   
    

Of course, he was not being realistic in the slightest, but Newt was dramatic, and he thought about things like that. What would he do if he never, ever told Minho how he felt? He had hoped that this train ride would give him such nostalgia that it would also bring bravery, but so far, he had had no such luck. He was still too nervous to speak up, even with all the talk of flirting and being together, and he didn't even have the courage to say something barely suggestive, such as, "Maybe there's a reason people assume we're together."  
    

He tried to get that statement to leave his mouth, but he simply couldn't. His throat closed up of its own accord and he hated himself for it, but he knew that if anything was going to happen between them, someone else was going to have to start it.   
    

They had sat there in the quiet between them for about thirty minutes when Minho downed the rest of his Coke and said, "We might oughtta get back."  
    

"Should probably sleep a little," Newt agreed, finished his own Coke.   
    

"Plus," Minho added, "we have to make sure that the other passengers didn't die of the cute coming from Gally and Thomas."  
    

"Yeah, that too," Newt laughed, putting some money down on the bar for Barney (a little extra because he liked the guy, he was nice).   
    

Barney looked up as they were standing and said, "Ya's leaving already?"  
    

"Yeah," Minho nodded, "we've got friends in the next car."

    

"Well, a'right," Barney replied. "Come back 'round though. Not too often people remember me."  
    

"We'll definitely remember you," Newt said with a smile. "Thanks for everything."  
    

"I didn't do 'nything," he shrugged, "but sure. Have a good'un."  
    

"You too," Minho said.   
    

Then the two of them began heading back to their car, walking juxtaposed until Minho stopped in his tracks for no apparent reason.   
    

Newt looked back at him, pausing just before he opened the door. "Something wrong?" he asked, raised eyebrows and questioning stance.  
    

Minho looked as if he were about to say something with a lot of weight, as if he had been waiting to say it for a while, and Newt suddenly got very nervous and his palms got a little shaky, but before he could assume too much, Minho said, "No, never mind."  
    

Newt looked at him curiously for a moment. He said, "You're sure?"  
    

Minho was hesitant again. His tongue traced his bottom lip for a mere second. The two could feel Barney's eyes on them, as if watching a cinematic scene unfold before him.   
    

Suddenly Minho took a step forward and placed his hands on either side of Newt's face and captured his lips with his own and Newt was so caught off guard that he forgot how to respond or even how to breathe. He stood stock still the whole time, cursing himself in his mind but he couldn't do anything about it. He was frozen, and his eyes were wide when Minho pulled away, his hands still on Newt's head.   
    

Their eyes met and Minho was breathing slightly heavily, not for lack of oxygen but out of nervousness, and it was the exact opposite for Newt, but it was okay because Minho was breathing enough for the both of them. They didn't say anything, and Newt knew he was ruining everything as he stood silently, knew he should do something, but he couldn't move.   
    

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Barney behind the counter roll his eyes towel still in hand. He said, "Just kiss'm back a'ready."  
    

It seemed that that was all that was needed to jolt Newt back into reality. He took a deep breath and blinked a few times before chuckling quietly. The chuckling lead into full-blown laughter, and in his mind, he had no idea why he was laughing, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it was because this situation was basically controlled by a bartender they had only really met once, or maybe it was because he was crazy. But he laughed.   
    

Minho watched the scene with confused eyes, which then turned into something identical to shame and heartbreak. When Newt breathed out largely after his laughing fit and saw the look on Minho's face, he calmed down and shook his head with a little smile.  
    

He put his hands on Minho's shoulders, said, "I'm sorry, I love you," and kissed him back, hard, crushing their lips, and he felt something switch on inside his head, because this time he actually could feel what was going on around him instead of experiencing it numbly.   
    

Their lips moved against each other's cautiously, testing the waters, not jumping right in. They pulled away simultaneously after just another moment, grinning to each other without caring to wonder why.  
    

Elation bubbled up inside Newt's chest, because it was finally over, all the pining and what-if nights and staring from a distance. He could finally not have to wonder because he could know, and damn if that wasn't one of the best feelings he had ever had the pleasure of experiencing.   
    

"S'not like that, huh?" Barney chuckled to himself as he resumed wiping the counter.   
    

Newt and Minho burst into laughter and pulled away from each other, looking over at Barney with wide grins and sparkling eyes.   
    

"Go on now, get outta here," Barney nodded toward the door. "Go see them friends ya's were talkin' 'bout. They oughtta be hopin' ya's would figure it out soon too."  
    

The pair grabbed the other's hand and nodded. Newt said with a smile, "Yeah. Yeah, thank you."  
    

Barney shrugged again. "Still didn't do 'nything."  
    

Minho and Newt chuckled again. They shared a look and walked back into the passenger car, where Thomas was still sleeping and Gally was still absently playing with his hair.   
    

Gally looked up at them when they got back. "Anything interesting happen?"  
    

They shared a look. Minho shrugged. "I guess."  
    

"Honestly, it's nothing really new," Newt added as they took their seats, still holding hands.   
    

Gally was not easily fooled, however, and saw their clasped hands almost immediately. He looked back up at both of them and grinned so widely that it seemed his cheeks might split.   
    

He shook his head in slight amazement as he tapped Thomas on the shoulder softy. "Thomas, wake up. Thomas."  
    

The boy in question blinked wearily and turned to face Gally with tired and annoyed eyes. "What is it?"

    

Still smiling, Gally nodded toward Minho and Newt and said, "You were right. It worked."  
    

Newt and Minho shared a look at Gally's statement. What had worked? What had they missed so completely?  
    

Thomas looked over at the new couple and saw their hands and grinned just as Gally had. "Knew it," he said with a nod. "Just put you guys back on the train where you met and everything would be fine."  
    

"So," Newt began, "you planned this? This is why you wanted to visit Brenda again?"  
    

Thomas shrugged, his eyes sliding shut again. "Maybe a little."  
    

Newt wanted to feel offended, but he couldn't bring himself to do it because, well, it had worked. They were together and this might have been the only way to get anything done.   
    

Newt turned to face Minho with a glint in his eye, and he thought to himself, yes, fate definitely knew what it was doing when he sat down in that lounge car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write, and it's nice to actually finish something for once (yai). Hope you guys enjoyed it, and I always enjoy comments and kudos, so don't be shy! Thanks for reading!


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